Close Knit (aGLIFF)

Japanese writer/director�Naoko Ogigami's latest movie, "Close Knit," is a delightfully sensitive family story that puts a refreshing slant on the continuing dialogue about the transgender community.

11-year-old Tomo (an enchanting and rather sanguine Rinka Kakihara) has a single parent mother who has a habit of suddenly taking off on a bender with a new man for months at a time, leaving her young daughter to fend for herself. Tomo usually counts on her uncle Maiko (Kenta Kiritani) to take her in, and on this latest occasion he tells his niece that his girlfriend Rinka (Toma Ikuta) has now moved in with him and warns that she is "unusual."

Rinka couldn't be more welcoming and generously goes out of her way to make their young guest as comfortable as possible, giving her all the comforts of a home life that her wayward and self-centered mother never has. Tomo, who had quickly realized what made Rinka "unusual," is very guarded at first, but is soon won around by both her honesty and her openness. Genuine affection quickly bonds the two, so much so that when the mother of one of her school mates makes disparaging remarks about Rinka to Tomo, the young girl gets so riled up that she physically attacks the woman.

This leads to a visit to Makio's house of the Child Protection Services, as it has now been reported that this is an unsafe environment for Toma to live in, a charge that is soon dismissed once the Inspector sums up the situation and talks to the child. Just as the talk starts of Rinka legalizing her own situation to be able to marry Makio and adopt Tomo, the roving mother turns up again, alone and penniless.�She refuses to accept that Rinka could have possibly been a surrogate as she angrily denounces her for not being a real woman and, once again,�Toma rushes to Rinka's defense.

A transphobic, homophobic culture could take the stance even a mother who callously abandons her child on a whim is better than a loving trans woman who treats Toma with a respect not often accorded to children. A side story concerns how Toma's classmates turn on anyone considered different and automatically taunt them as "faggots." And it's the son of the very woman who had disparaged Renka to Toma who attempts to end his own life, after his mother has discovered he has homosexual feelings.

It is the sublime and subtle nuanced performance of�Ikuta as Renka that really defines the piece. As a professional caregiver in a seniors center, and with a natural talent for tending to everybody else's needs and wants, Ikuta plays the part with a stoic dignity and honesty. She's the homemaker and the central pivot that keeps this family together. She portrays herself with na�vet� expressed in her demure, old-fashioned feminine wardrobe, but underneath she has a fiery and determined spirit.

The title of the movie comes from Renka passion for knitting, which gives her purpose and helps her complete her transition.

"Close Knit" is a heartwarming piece despite its depiction of the hostility directed at an unusual family, and it should be particularly applauded for showing the character of Renka as such a positive role model as a trans woman in a way that so very few movies ever do.�